


Sick Days and Stormy Nights

by EverAtYourSide



Series: Promptis Week 2017 [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: High school days, M/M, Noctis is very protective of his cinnamon roll boyfriend, Promptis Week 2017, Prompto is a precious cinnamon roll, Sickfic, sick cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-26 20:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12066411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverAtYourSide/pseuds/EverAtYourSide
Summary: Noctis is heading home after a long and arduous day of fulfilling his royal duties as Crown Prince in the midst of one of the worst storms that Insomnia has seen in many years. While on the way home, Noctis is confronted with a situation that he never wanted nor expected to be in his wildest dreams.Work dedicated to Day 2 of Promptis Week 2017





	Sick Days and Stormy Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2 - ~~Bed Sharing~~ \- High School Days
> 
> And here we are, Promptis Week, Day 2! I had lots of fun writing this fic and I think that's definitely a big reason why it ended up getting as long as it did, but I also actually have a super huge weakness for any kind of sick!fic, so I guess this was me having a good excuse to write one myself. ;) ~~I'm actually apparently super horrible at writing super quick drabble-y things...~~ I don't know, I guess I just get excited and can't stop typing...? But I guess it's not the worst problem to have when you're writing, right? 
> 
> Anyway! I hope everyone enjoys!

It had to be one of the worst thunderstorms that Insomnia had seen in years and Noctis was really hoping that the inclement weather would be enough to get him out of attending a large political function with his dad where they were welcoming a bunch of visiting dignitaries. However, apparently even the storm of the century wouldn’t be able to get the young prince off the hook for the night’s festivities. According to Ignis, the entire event had been planned as an indoor function, so why would they cancel something that had taken so much planning and preparation because of a little precipitation?

The event was nothing but trouble in Noctis’s humble opinion. All he had been doing since he had arrived a few hours ago was making small talk with the most important guests and basically making a show as the Crown Prince of Lucis. It was _exhausting…_ all the raven wanted to do right now was to go back to his apartment, collapse on his couch, or better yet, his bed, and sleep for the next week straight.

Once the young woman that had been talking Noctis’s ear off for the past forty-five minutes straight finally excused herself to go to the bathroom, the raven-haired prince took this brief window of valuable free time to pull out his phone and shoot off a quick text. Noctis was hoping that neither Iggy nor his father were looking in his direction at the moment, since he wasn’t even technically supposed to have his phone on him in the first place. Ignis had told him off countless times for messing around on his phone during official functions… it was unprofessional. He _should_ be mingling with their guests… but that was something that got real old, real quick. After the fifth time or so time that the advisor had caught him hiding in the corner somewhere playing games or texting a certain blonde friend of his, Iggy got so annoyed that he had told Noctis not to even bother bringing his phone at all. In the end though, all that really accomplished was to force Noctis to up his game with sneaking it in under Ignis’s nose.

Noctis quickly started texting Prompto, talking about how bored he was and how he would rather bash his head against the wall repeatedly than talk to another dignitary about Insomnian cultures, customs or whatever other direction they decided to push the direction of the conversation in. Prompto almost always had his phone practically glued to his hand, so Noctis was admittedly a little disappointed when he didn’t hear anything back from the blonde before that obnoxiously talkative woman he had been conversing with had returned from her trip to the bathroom.

“Quite a storm out there right now, isn’t it?” The young woman asked, situating herself just a bit too close for Noctis’s liking.

“Yeah, I guess.” Noctis replied plainly. “We don’t usually get a lot of bad weather here in Insomnia, but when it storms, it pretty much goes all-out.”

The woman laughed and while Noctis was still trying to figure what had been so funny about what he had said, the woman had already started talking again.

“You know,” she paused as if trying to decide if she wanted to go on, “Some people find getting caught in a rainstorm together with someone else to be very romantic…” The girl’s face suddenly blossomed into a bright red color, and for whatever reason, she seemed to have decided that the shoes she was currently wearing had become very interesting, as she now seemed to find herself unable to continue looking at the handsome dark-haired prince before her.

Noctis groaned silently. He was honestly pretty used to other affluent young women trying to flirt with him at these kinds of events and there was really no other way to say it but that he _hated_ it. He knew that they just liked him because of his title of Crown Prince and he sure as hell didn’t want to waste his time talking to those kinds of people. The worst part of all was that he had no choice but to continue to be anything but cordial with them, because that was how a proper prince would act. Even if all he really wanted to do was to go back to his apartment and play video games with a certain energetic blonde who had a particular affinity for chocobos.

“I can’t say that I find all that much romance in walking around outside and getting soaked for no particular reason.” Noctis replied rather bluntly, still distracted with thoughts of all the video games that he would be playing with Prompto over the rest of the long weekend.

“Ah, yes…” The girl replied as she let out a nervous laugh. “I guess that would kind of put a damper on things. E-excuse me, y-your highness.” The girl stumbled nervously over her words as she excused herself from the conversation quite abruptly.

“Smooth as always, your highness…” A leveled voice came quickly from behind where the dark-haired youth was still standing. Noctis spun around and right there as though he had simply materialized out of thin air was his advisor, Ignis, with a calculated grin on his lips. “You never really were one for being delicate, I suppose.”

“Gimme a break, Specs… I’ve been here for like five hours already and all I really want to do right now is go back to my apartment and take a nap.” Noctis groaned.

“Maybe to those of you that have a desire to bend time to your will you have, but for those who can actually tell time, I can assure you that we have only been here for two and a half hours.” Ignis quickly noted, his lips still in a subtle grin.

“Yeah, Yeah… whatever.” Noctis waved his hands dismissively. “But seriously Iggy, how much longer am I expected to keep this up? You said tonight’s event wasn’t going to be that long… if I have to stay here much longer, I might just have to lay down and pass out on the floor right here and now.” Noctis moaned dramatically.

“If you remember correctly, I clearly said that you wouldn’t need to do that much apart from talking and welcoming our newest ambassadors and their families to Insomnia.” Ignis replied in a curt tone, his face softening when he recognized the genuine exhaustion written all over his young charge’s features. “If things move along according to schedule, I would say that we should be able to leave in the next forty minutes to an hour as long as the storm outside doesn’t continue to worsen.” A very impatient groan was the only response that Ignis got from the young prince at that particular remark.

“Since you have some time to kill before we leave, why don’t we go find that fetching young woman you’ve been talking with so much tonight? I’m sure she would adore the company of the dashing young Lucian prince for the last little bit of the party.” Ignis almost laughed as he heard Noctis audibly groan once more and he wasted no time in pulling the resistant prince along with him through the crowded room.

* * *

 

The last hour, and yes Noctis wasn’t about to let Ignis forget that he had had to make the most awkward small talk of his life for _a whole hour_ with that girl he had finally managed to shake off before that damned advisor intervened and the prince found him face to face with her once more. Things got especially awkward when he noticed that said woman was considerably quieter now and Noct didn’t even have the luxury of pretending to be involved in the conversation with occasional nods and short quick responses, because the woman would barely open her mouth now and it was quite hard to pretend like you were holding a conversation when neither party actually felt like talking.

Right when Noctis had been ready to completely lose it, Ignis had come by to announce that the event would be ending soon and directed Noctis to bid the lady goodnight.

“Thank the six, Iggy.” Noctis let out a huge sigh of relief as the two had finally left the large ballroom and made their way to the building’s expansive vestibule where Noctis could say goodnight to his father before _finally_ being able to get into the car which would escort him back to his apartment. “I was starting to worry that you had forgotten about me.” The prince laughed lightly.

“As tempting an offer as that is, I can assure you that you will not be able to be rid of me so quickly, your highness.” Ignis finished as he returned the young prince’s smile.

“So uh, where’s Gladio? I thought he was supposed to be meeting up with us before we left.” Noctis asked as they entered the grand entryway to find the room lacking particularly in the large bodyguard built like a truck department.

“It seems as though something came up with Iris that he had to take care of, and he wanted to make sure that he left early enough so that just in case the storm got really bad, he wouldn’t be stuck here and unable to get to her.” Ignis stated, which earned quite the large frown from the prince.

“So Gladio gets to leave early and I don’t? Man, I see how it is, Iggy… I see where your true loyalties lie.” Noctis joked, or at least mostly joked. There was a small bit of himself that really was jealous that the shield had been able to leave early, regardless of the fact that his shield had a super legitimate reason and Noctis totally had the opposite.

“You know… I could always suggest to your father that you wish to stay to bid a formal farewell to all of our wonderful and important guests…” The bespectacled man’s eyes glinted with a mischievous glee that Noctis really didn’t like the look of. If there was one person you did not want on you bad side, that was Ignis Stupeo Scientia, it took a lot to really throw the stoic blonde for a loop, but his ability to strategize and adapt to a variety of situations made his potential to cause the most damage to you in whichever way he pleased was completely and utterly terrifying sometimes.

“Come on Ignis, there’s no need to drag my dad into this.” Noctis laughed nervously, hoping that said advisor wasn’t seriously considering the suggestion. “You wouldn’t want to be responsible for the death of the Crown Prince, right? Well, you do that and I assure you that I will be absolutely bored to death.” The prince finished, being careful to put particular emphasis on those last three words.

“Quite the tragedy that would be, I have no doubt.” Ignis smiled. “Go ahead and say goodnight to your father and I will go make sure to ready the car. The weather is quite as bad as it was earlier, but it is still pretty bad out, so I specifically requested that the Crownsguard bring over the Regalia to make for certain that you get home in one-piece.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Iggy.” Noctis waved as he trotted over to talk with his dad briefly before he was finally able to begin heading back to his apartment and the soft bed he would collapse in the moment he got home.

When Noctis finally did run outside after saying goodnight to both his father and Ignis, he couldn’t believe how bad the weather still was out despite the assurances from the advisor that things had actually lightened up considerably. The wind was blowing fiercely in what felt like every direction, which pretty much completely defeated the purpose of the umbrella that was a feeble attempt to make sure that he wasn’t completely soaked by the time he made it to his car.

At least he would be back at his apartment in less than thirty minutes and he would _finally_ be able to relax after a horrendously long day of publicity events all converging at the huge party that he had just left.

Quickly remembering that he still had his phone with him, Noctis proceeded to unlock his phone and either play King’s Knight or perhaps even try to get a hold of Prompto again to kill time while he was on his way back to his apartment.

To his surprise and a certain amount of disappointment when he pulled out his phone, he noticed that Prompto still had yet to get back to him about the text he had sent earlier while waiting for the young woman in the red dress to get back from the bathroom.

_That’s weird._ Noctis thought to himself. _Prompto’s usually the one that’s spamming and constantly distracting me with random thoughts or bragging about some new medal that he got in King’s Knight or any cool picture that he managed to snap that day… but I don’t know; he must just be busy with something tonight._

Finally decided that he was much too tired to actually try and concentrate on something like King’s Knight, Noctis decided to settle for watching the rain and wind battle with each other, while taking in the sights of the occasional flash of lightning as the long city streets of Insomnia rushed by outside.

Only a storm this strong would make Insomnia seem like such a ghost town. Normally the nightlife in Insomnia was almost busier than the city during the day, but tonight…? It seemed as though not a soul dared to brave the terrifyingly strong storm for any reason and the prince couldn’t say that he blamed them. If he had had any choice in the matter, he wouldn’t have left his apartment at all today either. Although that probably just had more to do with the fact that he was feeling really lazy today and would have wanted to stay in his apartment all day regardless of whether or not the weather was nasty.

After staring out of the Regalia’s windows for a few minutes the exhausted raven started to zone out for a moment, before he realized that the car had come to a complete stop and hadn’t moved at all in at least a five or so minutes.

“Hey… what’s going on?” The prince asked absentmindedly as he continued to watch the frequent lightning strikes light up the sky and listened to the almost rhythmic sound of the rain pelting down on the car. The precipitation made contact on the roof with such force that had Noctis not been in the Regalia, he might have been a little more than slightly concerned that they would be swept away as the water continued to pour down from the heavens in wave, after wave, after wave without remorse.

“I couldn’t say for sure, your highness.” The driver called from the front seat. “There are some flashing lights up ahead and considering the horrible weather, I can only imagine that there must have been some sort of accident.”

“Great…” Noctis groaned. Was it really too much to ask to be able to get back to his apartment at a semi-decent time tonight? He had done everything Ignis had asked of him, hadn’t he? He deserved at least a little bit of time to be able to get back to his apartment and decompress for a bit before he was inevitably whisked away to the next physically and mentally draining official function.

“Is there no way to get around it?” Noctis asked, a slight frown now settling upon his features.

“I’m afraid not, your highness.” The driver replied.

“Great…” The raven-haired prince moaned as his focus shifted once again to the storm raging outside, definitely not feeling jealous of anyone unlucky enough to have been involved in the car wreck that was apparently causing the traffic he was currently stuck in. He may be stuck in traffic now, but as soon as they managed to get through, he would be back at his apartment complex in a matter of minutes, not stuck sitting on the side of the road waiting for the authorities to come sort things out in the middle of a crazy storm and Noctis could at least be thankful for that.

“Well that’s unexpected…” The driver muttered quietly a few minutes later as the Regalia approached the scene of the supposed accident.

“What? What’s going on?” Noctis asked curiously, his attention quickly pulled from his absent staring out the window.

“Pardon me, your highness.” The driver apologized. “I did not mean to alarm you by speaking out of turn.”

“I don’t care about that.” Noctis replied bluntly as he brushed the apology aside. “What did you mean just now? What was unexpected?”

“Yes of course, your highness,” The driver nodded, “I merely was surprised by the fact that there seems to be a few people standing around talking and even as we get closer, I only see one car and it doesn’t seem to have any damage at all.”

“Maybe they broke down and are trying to wait out the storm by sheltering under that overpass at least until help arrives?” Noctis suggested, after all there were only so many reasons for someone to be standing out in the middle of this huge storm.

“That was what I thought at first, as well.” The man at the front of the vehicle agreed before continuing, “But now that we are getting a little closer, it appears as though their attention seems to be focused on something on the ground… maybe someone was injured?” The man continued wonder as he started to scratch his head lightly, still pondering the scene unfolding before him. “But with only one car and no damage… I’m not really sure how that would have happened.”

They were practically right next to the incident in question at this point, and Noctis couldn’t help but look on in sheer curiosity, wanting to figure what the heck had actually happened. As he watched the scene continue to unfold in front of him, a sudden chill shot down his spine and he could feel his skin start to crawl for reasons that the raven just couldn’t figure out. He was close enough by now that he could indeed confirm his driver’s original speculation and he could just barely make out the thin form of someone huddled on the ground, shielded only very slightly from ongoing storm by the large road that ran above the smaller and thinner road that the Regalia was on.

As Noct’s attention continued to be consumed by the events unfolding right outside his window, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something familiar about that young, skinny frame, as though there was some invisible force gnawing away at his nerves. The annoying and unshakable feeling only turned into pure and unbridled terror once raven was able to just barely make out a tuft of very familiar, trademark blonde hair peeking out from between the legs of the surrounding bystanders.

  _No…_ Noctis thought desperately to himself. _It can’t be… he’s- no…_

There was no time to debate the matter with himself, there was a very high chance that this could all just be some horrible misunderstanding; but if it wasn’t… and Noctis just sat here and did nothing…? He would never be able to live with himself.

Time was running out, and Noctis needed to start making some decisions before they were made for him. He knew that what he was about to do would almost definitely end up resulting in him getting seriously chewed out by a furious Ignis or Cor. However, at this very moment, because of the chance of what was at stake and without even another second’s hesitation, Noctis uttered a quick, “I’ll be right back,” and quickly threw the door next to him open wide, instantly disappearing out into the ever-raging storm outside. As the anxious prince finished executing an expertly timed warp right next to this small group of complete strangers, he could only hope and pray that he would not recognize the person that was in the midst of it all.

It seemed quite clear though, after a few seconds, that his prayers would go unanswered when Noctis did in fact, recognize the person who was lying completely still in the grass just off the road; and it was indeed the one person who he had desperately prayed for it not to be.

“Prompto…” The young prince uttered, the name catching dully at the back of his throat. “What happened??” He demanded hastily as the raven quickly pushed his way through the line of people that were currently crowding around the fallen blonde. “Was he in an accident? How did he get here? How the hell are there so many people standing here, and yet not a single one of you is actually doing anything to try and help him??”

“None of us actually saw what happened, so why don’t you… oh, shit-” One of the men started before his brain quickly caught up with his mouth and he almost instantly recognized the gravity of the situation he found himself in and who exactly it was that he had been just been in the process of telling off. “P-Prince N-Noctis…! Please forgive me, I-I had no idea…” The man quickly apologized as he started furiously rubbing his eyes, as though he couldn’t believe that they were telling him that the Crown freaking Prince was actually standing right there in front of him, not much further than a single arm’s length away.

“Your Highness…!” Another voice broke through the roar of the wind and rain and Noctis realized it must have been the man who had been given the unfortunate task of driving him home. “It’s not safe out here…! Please… return to the Regalia at once or his majesty will surely have my head…!”

“I’m not leaving here without Prompto, so just give me a minute, okay?” Noctis insisted, before turning back to try and make at least a little bit of sense of what the hell was going on and why he had found his best friend randomly passed out on the side of some random road right in the heart of Insomnia. The driver merely sighed and quickly muttered something under his breath before reluctantly accepting his fate and returning to the awaiting car for the time being. If the prince made no move to return to the car after more than like the next two or three minutes, he would drag the kid back to the car himself.

“Okay, back to business…” The raven murmured as he turned back around the face the only people that seemed capable of giving him any kind of answers right now. “Who here wants to dutifully serve your prince by explaining to me what the heck happened here?” Noctis practically demanded, annoyance and frustration clear in his tone as he attempted to dawn a stony mask of impassivity, because if these men sensed how truly pissed off Noctis was right now, they would almost have certainly fled for their lives.

“I swear, we don’t know anything more than you, Your Highness.” The one man pleaded. “My buddies and I were just on our way back to hunker down at my place not far from here. Although, after we hydroplaned at least five or so times in the last half-mile, we decided to try and wait out the storm here and as we pulled over we just so happened to notice the kid just lying there. He didn’t seem to have any injuries that we could see, but one of the guys mentioned that he might have internal injuries that we couldn’t see so we should still try and call an ambulance or something. When we called though, they told us that since it wasn’t a life-threatening emergency that there really wasn’t much they could do with everything going to hell in a handbasket everywhere else in the city right now. They said that they would eventually try to get someone out here, but couldn’t promise anything since they’ve been tied up all over Insomnia with more pressing emergencies.”

Noctis still had no idea why exactly Prompto had gotten stranded out here, but at least he had gotten some kind of information out of these strangers. He quickly focused his attention back onto the blonde, kneeling next to him as he started to lightly shake his shoulder, hoping it would might wake the blonde up, but received absolutely nothing in return. The only thing that gave Noctis any kind of assurance that the blonde was still alive and with him was when he realized Prompto’s body visibly shivering. It was the intensity of which said shivers were currently consuming the blonde’s lithe form, which concerned the Lucian prince just about as much as it comforted him that he was still alive and kicking.

“Hey, Prom…” Noctis uttered quietly as he brushed the thoroughly soaked blonde locks out of the other boy’s face. “You gotta wake up for me, okay? I need you to explain what in the almighty hell you got yourself into this time, so I can figure out how to help you.” As the Prince found himself continually attempting to push the blonde’s hair out of his face, he was shocked when despite Prompto’s insistent shivering, Noctis could still practically feel the heat radiating outward from the other boy’s forehead, and then it was no wonder why Prompto hadn’t been responding to his attempts to rouse him.

“Six almighty, Prom. What the hell are you doing out in weather like this with such a high fever?” Noctis asked, more to himself than actually expecting the other teen to answer or even hear him. When it was clear he wasn’t going to be able to get any answers from the blonde right at this moment, it was clear that there was no time to waste and without waiting another second, Noctis carefully slipped one arm behind the blonde’s shoulders and secured the other underneath the blonde’s knees and hoisted the completely drenched boy comfortably into his arms. He knew Ignis would probably have his head for ruining yet another priceless suit, but seeing as the prince’s entire body had become drenched practically the moment he took one step outside the Regalia, Noctis figured it hardly mattered at this point. Besides, between helping Prompto and saving some stupid outfit, the energetic photographer would win every single time hands down; there was just absolutely no question.

“Yeah, well thanks for uh, not doing anything…” The prince quipped bitterly as he turned around and started walking past the still dumbstruck group of guys that apparently hadn’t quite decided if they were actually talking to _the_ Crown Prince of Lucis in the middle of a gigantic rainstorm, or if they were simply hallucinating. “I need to get Prompto here some actual help, so if you’ll excuse me.”

Noctis didn’t really want to take Prompto back out into the relentless torrent of rain once again, even despite the fact that he was already soaked and the cover of the overpass wasn’t entirely helpful when the rain was blown sideways because of the ridiculously strong wind gusts; but he needed to get back to the Regalia and in order to do that, he would need to brave the heart of the storm one more time and only for a few moments as he ran the short distance that remained between here and the shelter and safety of the Regalia. At least once they were able to get back into said Regalia, they would be done having to deal with this stupid and ridiculously persistent storm.

Noctis took a deep breath, before finally sprinted back to the ever trusty and dependable Regalia, doing whatever he could in an attempt to shield the blonde from the onslaught of rain as much as possible.

Once the two boys were comfortably seated in the back of the car, the first thing Noctis did was to fish out his cellphone and call a certain knowledgeable advisor and ask the bespectacled cook to meet him back at his apartment as soon as possible.

After hanging up with assurances that Ignis would come by as soon as he could acquire adequate transportation, Noctis was finally able to fully focus on the still unconscious blonde now strewn across his lap. Now that his focus wasn’t completely compromised with all of the rain coming down in all directions, Noctis could see that Prompto was dressed in what looked like some kind of uniform… but it definitely wasn’t their school uniform, although it did look slightly familiar, though the prince wasn’t exactly sure why. The thing that really caught his attention though, was that the blonde completely lacked any kind of jacket or umbrella, and unfortunately went lengths to explain why the blonde was shivering so much.

Speaking of which… Noctis’s focus frantically searched around the car’s interior knowing that there had to be _something_ that he could use to try and help Prompto warm up, but finding absolutely nothing would have been any real help initially. Noctis would have gladly taken the clothes off his own back if he could have, but after running out into the storm without so much as an umbrella, his suit was just as soaked through as Prompto’s.

_Wait…!_ Hadn’t he taken his suit jacket off the second he had gotten into the car after leaving the event just a little earlier? Yeah… it had to be- _There!_ Noctis let out a slightly strangled sigh of relief as he located the jacket in question, which had been stuffed haphazardly underneath the driver’s seat. After digging said garment out from underneath the seat, Noctis laid the thankfully dry fabric so that it completely covered the blonde’s chest, hoping that they would get back to his apartment sooner rather than later so he could help Prompto change into dry, clean clothes.

“n’ct…?” A low, barely audible voice uttered and the raven nearly jumped as he looked down, noticing two hazy and confused blue orbs blankly staring back up at him.

“So, when are you going to tell me why the hell I just had to find you collapsed on the side of some random-ass road in the middle of a freakin’ hurricane or whatever?” Noctis asked, partly annoyed that Prompto somehow managed to end up in such a situation and partly thankful that he had just so happened to be in the right place at the right time to do something about it.

“oh- uh, yeah sorry… I d-didn’t- s-sorry…” Prompto apologized softly, now able to blink away a little more of the haze after each passing minute, a few particularly painful sounding coughs cutting off the rest of his explanation until he was able to stop long enough to take a few deep breaths without sending himself into another coughing fit.

“Shit, Prom. How long have you been sick?” The prince asked concerned. “You seemed fine just the other day when we went to the arcade after school… and you definitely didn’t look this bad yesterday.”

The blonde merely let out a nervous chuckle as his body continued to tremble and he clutched desperately at the warmth that Noct’s suit jacket provided. “I’ve been f-feeling kind of off since M-Monday, but it d-didn’t get real bad until this morning when I woke up and felt as though my entire body was on fire, my throat felt like it was made of sandpaper and my head felt so stuffed I thought it was going to explode…”

“Okay… so why didn’t you just stay home and relax or let me know? You know that I would have been over to your place in two seconds with Ignis right on my heels to help…” Noctis pleaded. Sometimes, the raven was really impressed by how independent Prompto was; and then other times… times like these, it really annoyed the hell out of him because he wanted to be there to help the blonde, but he couldn’t if Prompto never told him when he was having a hard time.

“C-Couldn’t get my shift c-covered at work t-today…” The blonde moaned as he continued to try and bury his face firmly into the raven’s chest, desiring the warmth that it brought while also feeling like he was going to burst into flames at the very same time. It was all so confusing when despite the fact that he couldn’t get his body to stop shaking because he felt as cold as ice, but at the same time he couldn’t shake this nagging warmth that refused subside. “Then to c-cap off the… the perfect day, by the e-end of my shift, my phone, jacket and umbrella had somehow just c-completely disappeared from my locker. I… I thought that it would be fine and I would be able to pass out once I got home. I remember worrying about not being able to make it home, and then I... I don’t know…” Prompto sniffed as tried to stifle a wave of tears threatening to build in the corner of his eyes. He could vaguely recall finding shelter from the relentless storm under that small overpass and taking a moment to try and collect himself… but after that, nothing.

“Okay, so I guess I can kinda understand the whole job thing even though your boss sounds like a complete dick if you showed up to work this sick and he still didn’t send you home,” Noctis started, pausing a moment as he started running his hand gently through the blonde’s still saturated hair, hoping to give the other some comfort to distract him while they were still on their way to his apartment. “But seriously, Prom even if you lost your phone, you know my number and you should have just called me. We probably could have made some kind of plan and avoided this entire shit-fest in the first place.”

“y-you had that big dinner tonight… d-didn’t want to bother-” Prompto muttered dismissively. His eyes starting to droop dangerously low now that he had managed to find a somewhat decently comfortable position, curled up against Noct’s chest.

“Astrals almighty…” Noctis sighed loudly. “When am I going to get through to that thick skull of yours, that you’re never a bother or burden to me… I wouldn’t waste the little free time I have with someone I didn’t like.”

“sorry…” the blonde mumbled again, his ability to stay conscious fading quickly, his exhaustion from everything that had happened in the past day, quickly catching up with him.

“Don’t worry about it.” Noctis sighed, unable to stay annoyed at the other while the blonde was in such a vulnerable state. “We should be getting back to my apartment pretty soon, but for now just get some rest and I’ll wake you when we get there.”

The only response that the young prince received at that point was a slight nod as the blonde finally surrendered himself to the sleep that had been clawing at his consciousness.

It wasn’t but another tense few minutes later that the Regalia was at last pulling into the spacious garage space beneath his apartment building; and it was on days like today where the underground garage space was like a gift from the astrals themselves. Noctis sure as hell had had enough of traipsing around in the middle of a huge storm to last him the rest of his life.

Once the Regalia was parked, Noctis reluctantly roused the blonde and half-dragged, half-carried Prompto up the elevator and into the door of his apartment.

Leaving the weary photographer listing awkwardly to one side as he practically collapsed against one of the chairs next to his dining table, Noctis briefly disappeared into his room so that he could grab a set of sweatpants and any random t-shirt that looked a smelled mostly clean.

“Here.” The raven offered as he placed the clothes next to where Prompto had all but laid out on top of the table in front of him. “You think you can manage to change into these?” He asked, knowing very well what the answer was most likely to be.

“Sure as hell hope so… be right back.” The blonde muttered as he disappeared into the small bathroom connected to the spacious living room.

As if on cue, right as Prompto stepped out, Noctis could hear the distinctive knocking that could only belong to a certain blonde advisor over by the front door.

“Hey, Iggy.” The raven greeted his advisor casually as if said advisor hadn’t just driven through one of the worst storms Insomnia has seen in years, simply because Noctis had asked him to. “Thanks for coming. Prompto’s just in the bathroom changing out of his wet clothes.”

“Not to worry.” Ignis replied as he took off his shoes and headed towards the kitchen with a few bags of what was undoubtedly food that he intended to prepare for the sick blonde. “I am glad that you were able to find him before things escalated too far.”

“I still feel like my whole body got run over by a truck, but being able to change into some soft, dry clothes feels freaking amazing.” Prompto noted between thick breaths as he slowly made his way back into the living room. “Oh and Noct… you don’t happen to still have that one spare set of glasses that I left here a few months ago? My contacts are seriously trying to kill me right now…”

“Hmmm… yeah I don’t think I ever took them out of the top drawer of the nightstand next to my bed.” Noctis replied getting up before adding, “Don’t worry about it Prom, I’ll go get um. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable on the couch; you look like you’re about to pass out any second now and I’m pretty sure you’ve already hit your quota on passing out in random places today.” Noctis finished with a bit of a grin.

“Thanks- oh hey, Iggy… what are you doing here?” The blonde asked as he finally noticed the tall cook bustling about in and around the kitchen.

“Noctis called and informed me of what happened, so I am here to aid in any way that I can to make sure you get everything you need for a speedy recovery.” Ignis replied as he effortlessly placed several pans on to the stove and started cooking all different kind of ingredients together, all the aromas of which, joined together in almost perfect harmony. Even though Prompto had not had any kind of appetite at all the entire day, he could feel his stomach all of a sudden screaming out to be filled.

Prompto tried to ignore the growing, gnawing feeling in his stomach as he attempted to settle himself comfortably on Noct’s couch. As luck would have it though, once he finally found himself starting to get comfortable, a sudden coughing fit had the skinny blonde practically doubled over, feeling as though he was hacking up a lung as he desperately tried to catch his breath between coughs. Every time he tried to breath in though, he could feel something catch at the back of his throat, which inadvertently caused him to cough even more which soon set off his gag reflex and caused the blonde to start dry-heaving over the side of the couch. Luckily, there wasn’t anything in his stomach to throw up, so at least Prompto wouldn’t have to feel absolutely horrible about puking all over Noct’s floor.

After what felt like an eternity of hacking and gagging uncontrollably, all the while convinced that he would definitely suffocate as desperately tried and failed to catch his breath; the blonde almost jumped when he felt someone’s hands start rubbing soothing circles on his back in an attempt to help soothe his rebelling and strained muscles. Next thing he knew, there was a large bucket placed on the floor right below where Prompto had managed to awkwardly position his head in case he had actually thrown up.

“Hey, it’s okay… just let it out.” Which Prompto quickly recognized belonged to the raven-haired teenager who had gone to fetch his old pair of glasses.  “When you feel like you’re up to it, I’ve put your glasses on the coffee table. Oh, and I know the last thing you probably want to do right now is eat, but I can’t imagine that you’ve gotten all that much in your stomach today, and Ignis said that you need to get something substantially nutritious in your body, because that’s going to be the best way to help your body fight off this cold.”

“G…great…” Prompto moaned out as he attempted to even out his breathing after finally being able to stem the long chain of coughs and dry heaving. “Then I’ll actually… get to… start throwing up all over your floor for real… as opposed to… to just dry-heaving up a lung…” Prompto proceeded to try and take a shallow breath as he continued. “yay me… I’m… I’m so freakin’ lucky…” the blonde finished as he tried to weakly brush aside the tears that had started to stream down his face from all the uncontrollable coughing and gagging he had been doing over the past few minutes.

“You feeling okay enough to sit up?” Noctis asked, “I think Iggy is just about finished with the soup and I also managed to grab you some medicine that should be able to help bring down your fever.”

“I dunno… maybe…?” The skinny blonde answered, happy that he had finally been able to calm his most recent coughing fit, but also not really wanting to move and risk aggravating another one.

Noctis slowly and carefully helped the blonde back up into a sitting position and quickly took a seat beside him allowing Prompto to lean against him and close his eyes briefly as the two waited for Ignis who appeared out of the kitchen moments later with a bowl of some kind of soup that smelled absolutely freaking amazing along with a small glass of water accompanied by two white capsules that were undoubtedly the medicine that Noctis had just mentioned.

The advisor placed a small tray table across the blonde’s lap so that he wouldn’t have to worry about spilling said soup by trying to eat it in his lap and accidentally bumping it or doing something else that could cause the soup to otherwise spill.

“I tried to make sure to use ingredients that will be easy on your stomach, so you should be able to eat it without worry of upsetting it. Let me know if you start to feel sick at all though, and I will go ahead and try prepare something else for you.” Ignis instructed. “Just don’t eat it too fast or I can guarantee you will make yourself sick.”

Prompto nodded and uttered a low ‘thanks’ before he slowly and cautiously swallowed a few small spoonfuls of the soup and both Ignis and Noct grinned when they noticed the way Prompto’s face lit up as he felt the warm, fragrant liquid sooth his scratchy and sore throat. It wasn’t but a minute or two before the soup was far too tasty to resist and in just another few, short minutes after that, the blonde let out a large sigh of contentment, placing the spoon back into the empty bowl and settling himself to snuggle up against Noct’s shoulder as Ignis came by and collected the small tray table until it would be needed again.

“Hey Specs, can you toss me that blanket over there by the TV?” The prince called, not wanting to disturb the blonde by getting up to get the blanket himself. “Oh and the remote for the TV too.”

“Would you be requiring anything else, Your highness?” Ignis teased his young charge as he grabbed the blanket and remote, “Perhaps a cold drink or a foot rub, while you’re at it?”

“Yeah sure, I could always go for a good foot massage.” Noctis laughed as he grabbed the remote, turned on the TV, while Ignis unfolded the large blanket he had retrieved and placed it over the two boys pressed closely together on the couch. “But really… thanks, Iggy. I seriously owe you one.” The prince finished in a completely genuine and grateful voice.

“You are very welcome, Noct.” Ignis nodded in acknowledgement as he grabbed one of his books off the nearby bookcase and had a seat in one of the large recliners situated near the couch that the two other boys were sitting on.

“Hey Prom, do you want try to find something on TV, or would you rather watch a movie?” The raven-haired boy asked as he shook his shoulder lightly to get the blonde’s attention.

“Don’ care…” The blonde muttered sleepily, stifling a quick cough before burrowing himself deep underneath the warm blanket Ignis had put over them and finally starting to feel as though he could actually get comfortable enough to fall asleep.

“Hmm… I’m kinda in a movie-ish kind of mood right now, so let’s see what’s on the on demand.” Noctis wondered aloud as he started paging through the different categories of currently available movies. Before he started the movie, Noct’s attention along with both Prompto’s and Ignis’s attention as well were all torn away from the TV by a particularly bright flash of lightning and subsequently loud crack of thunder sounding from outside.

“Damn, it just seems to be getting worse out there…” Noctis muttered, thinking back to just a short time ago when he had been stuck out there in the middle of all that.

“It certainly seems as though we may be stuck here together for quite some time if this keeps up.” Ignis noted casually.

“I’m okay with that.” Noctis grinned. “Any excuse for us to be able to stay here, watch tv and play video games is fine with me. What about you, Prom?”

Noctis was surprised when he turned his head to the left and noticed that the blonde’s eyes were already closed and his breathing starting to even out. For the first time that night since Noctis had found him out passed out in the middle of the storm, Prompto looked completely at ease. Not wanting to do anything to jeopardize the moment, Noctis checked to make sure that the blonde was adequately covered by the large blanket covering them and quickly found some random movie to put on as he relaxed back into the soft cushions of the couch. Noctis knew that it would probably be a few days until Prompto was completely back on his feet, but there was nothing that was going to stop Noctis from making sure that he was there every step of the way; and if it meant that he needed to skip out on a few official state dinners or events, then that was all the better.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Comments are always appreciated. :)
> 
> Free to check out my blog on tumblr! [ever-at-your-side-15](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ever-at-your-side-15)


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